SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC ACCOUNT CERTIFICATION AND ENHANCED CREDIT REPORTING

• US 20090171723A1
• Filed: 09/16/2008
• Published: 07/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Formfree Holdings Corporation
• Original Assignee: Formfree Holdings Corporation
• Inventors: JENKINS, CHAD G.
• Application Number:
  US12/211,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20090171723A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for electronically certifying financial account data and providing enhanced credit reporting capabilities. The systems and methods may include electronically receiving a certification request from a requesting computer, wherein the request is associated with a financial account requiring certification, collecting financial data from at least one financial data provider, where the financial data provider is associated with at least one financial account requiring certification. The systems and methods may further include routing at least a portion of the financial data to a certification engine for electronically certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data and electronically generating an electronic account certification for at least a portion of the collected financial data. Authorized recipients may be electronically transmitted information contained in a report which may provide indication that at least a portion of the account has been certified or indication that at least a portion can not be certified. Further electronic processes include electronically determining if at least a portion of the certification data is acceptable for total financial reporting and directing communication to authorized recipients at least a notice of availability of the total financial reports. Enhanced credit reports may spawn with electronically certified financial asset data consolidated with historical debt data reported by a credit bureau. Credit interest matching and interactive credit accounts may also spawn as a function of receiving the electronically certified financial data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for electronic account certification and reporting, the method comprising:

receiving a certification request from a requesting computer, wherein the request is associated with at least one financial account requiring certification;

electronically collecting, via a communications network, financial data from at least one financial data provider;

routing the financial data to a certification engine for electronically certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data;

generating, based at least in part on the certification, an electronic account certification for the at least a portion of the collected financial data, wherein the electronic account certification is electronically communicated to an authorized recipient;

determining whether at least a portion of the electronically certified data is acceptable for total financial reporting; and

if the at least a portion of certified data is acceptable for total financial reporting, transmitting at least a notice of availability of the total financial report to an authorized recipient.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one financial data provider is an employer, a financial institution, a mortgage institution, a credit card bureau, a credit reporting bureau, a financial aggregator, a personal financial management software, a securities firm, an investment firm, or a account holder.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein electronically collecting financial data from at least one financial data provider comprises:

electronically connecting, via the communications network, to the at least one financial data provider;

requesting authorization to access the financial data, wherein the authorization request includes authentication information associated with the financial data;

receiving authorization to access the financial data; and

collecting the financial data subsequent to receiving authorization to access the financial data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the communications network comprises one or more of an electronic funds transfer (EFT) network, an automated clearing house (ACH) network, an open financial exchange (OFX) network, a society for worldwide interbank financial exchange (SWIFT) network, a credit card network, a proprietary bank network, a proprietary credit network, or a proprietary credit authorization network.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising electronically collecting financial data from one or more financial data providers via one or more computer readable mediums.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the financial data comprises at least one of real-time transaction data, real time balance data, historical transaction data, or historical balance data.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the financial data comprises at least one of asset data, debt data, income data, expense data, credit report data, employment data, or identity data.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the financial data is continuously updated in real-time or near real time.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein electronically collecting the financial data comprises periodically collecting the financial data, and further comprising:

updating previously collected financial data once additional financial data is collected; and

continuously updating collected financial data before and after a specified time period.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein electronically certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data comprises:

identifying one or more rules for electronic account certification and reporting;

generating rule sequences based at least in part on the identified rules;

applying the generated rule sequences to the at least a portion of the collected financial data;

identifying a most current and complete reporting data source; and

generating one or more reports associated with the at least a portion of the collected financial data based at least in part on the application of the generated rule sequences.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein one or more rules for electronic account certification and reporting comprises at least one of determining whether the at least a portion of the collected financial data is accurate or determining whether the at least a portion of collected financial data is complete or determining whether the at least a portion of collected financial data is compliant.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data comprises determining whether the at least a portion of the collected financial data is accurate, and further comprising one or more of (i) identifying a social security number match, (ii) identifying an account number match, (iii) identifying an employer identification number match, (iv) identifying an account holder name match, (v) identifying an account holder address match, (vi) identifying a match between accessed accounts and accounts reported by a credit reporting agency, (vii) determining whether accessed accounts are accounts of an identified user;

or (viii) determining whether information obtained from a first data source matching information obtained from a second data source.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein it is determined that financial data from least one required financial data provider is not accurate, and further comprising:

electronically identifying at least one contra financial data provider;

electronically, receiving, via the communications network and responsive to the request, at least an indication of the availability of the requested financial data; and

restricting analysis of any financial data that is determined to be inaccurate.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data comprises determining whether the at least a portion of the collected financial data is complete by:

identifying at least one required financial data provider that is required for the electronic certification; and

determining whether at least a portion of the collected financial data is collected from the at least one required financial data provider.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein it is determined that financial data has not been collected from the at least one required financial data provider, and further comprising:

electronically requesting, via the communications network, financial data from the at least one required financial data provider;

electronically, receiving, via the communications network and responsive to the request, at least an indication of the availability of the requested financial data; and

restricting analysis of any financial data that is determined to be incomplete.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein identifying, from the at least one financial data provider, a most current and complete reporting data source comprises identifying a most current and complete reporting data source, and further comprises one or more of (i) determining whether information available from a first data source is available from another data source, (ii) determining whether balance information available from a first data source is available from another data source, (iii) determining whether transaction information available from a first data source is available from another data source, (iv) determining whether dates and times are associated with balance information obtained from a data source, (v) determining whether dates and times are associated with transaction information obtained from a data source, (vi) determining whether dates and times associated with information obtained from a first data source are different than dates and times associated with information obtained from another data source, or (vii) determining whether dates and times associated with information obtained from a first data source are more current than dates and times associated with information obtained from another data source.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprises:

identifying, from the at least one financial data provider, a most current and complete reporting data source; and

providing means for certifying and reporting financial data obtained from the most current and complete reporting data source.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the identified one or more rules for electronic account certification and reporting comprise one or more of government rules, user rules, or system rules for electronic account certification and reporting.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the identified one or more rules for electronic account certification and reporting comprise one or more of rules associated with verifying balances, rules associated with verifying transactions, rules associated with reporting prohibited transactions, rules associated with reporting unusual transactions, or rules associated with exception reporting.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the identified one or more rules for electronic account certification and reporting comprise one or more of rules associated with financial analysis, rules associated with financial reporting, rules associated with risk analysis, rules associated with risk reporting, or rules associated with financial scoring.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein electronically communicating the generated electronic account certification to an authorized recipient comprises simultaneously communicating a plurality of respective generated electronic account certifications to a plurality of authorized recipients.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the generated electronic account certification is disputed;

electronically routing dispute information to one or more authorized recipients if it is determined that the generated account certification is disputed; and

electronically routing approval information to one or more authorized recipients if it is determined that the generated account certification is not disputed.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating one or more financial reports based at least in part on the certification of the at least a portion of the collected financial data.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, further comprising continuously updating one or more of the generated electronic account certification or the generated one or more financial reports as a function of receiving additional or updated financial data.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the generated electronic account certification and the generated one or more financial reports are utilized to facilitate at least one of (i) an electronic matching of credit lenders and credit seekers, (ii) a spawning of a credit account or (iii) an electronic optimization of a credit account in real-time or near real-time.

26. A system for electronic account certification and financial reporting, the system comprising:

means for receiving a certification request from a requesting computer, wherein the request is associated with at least one financial account requiring certification;

means for electronically collecting, via a communications network, financial data from at least one financial data provider, wherein the financial data provider is associated with the at least one financial account requiring certification;

means for routing the financial data to a certification engine for electronically certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data;

means for generating, based at least in part on the certification, an electronic account certification for the at least a portion of the collected financial data, wherein the electronic account certification is electronically communicated to an authorized recipient;

means for determining whether at least a portion of the electronically certified data is acceptable for total financial reporting; and

means for transmitting at least a notice of availability of the total financial report to an authorized recipient if the at least a portion of certified data is acceptable.

27. A system for electronic account certification and financial reporting, the system comprising:

at least one memory device operable to store collected financial data;

a communications interface operable to facilitate communication with one or more financial data providers via a communications network; and

a processor, in communication with the at least one memory device and the communications interface, wherein the processor is configured to execute software instructions operable to;

receive, via the communications interface, a certification request from a requesting computer, wherein the request is associated with at least one financial account requiring certification;

electronically collect, via the communications interface and the communications network, financial data from at least one financial data provider, wherein the financial data provider is associated with the at least one financial account requiring certification;

electronically route at least a portion of the financial data to a certification engine for electronically certifying at least a portion of the collected financial data;

electronically generate, based at least in part on the certification, an electronic account certification for the at least a portion of the collected financial data;

direct the communications interface to communicate, via the network interface to an authorized recipient, the generated electronic account certification report;

electronically determine whether at least a portion of the electronically certified data is acceptable for total financial reporting; and

direct the communications interface to communicate, via the network interface to an authorized recipient, at least a notice of availability of the total financial report to an authorized recipient if the at least a portion of certified data is acceptable.

28. A system of claim 27, wherein the processor is further operable to execute the computer-executed instructions to:

receive and store a credit seeker interest associated with desirable credit terms defined by parameters stored in the interest;

receive and store a credit lenders interest associated with desirable credit terms defined by parameters stored in the interest;

receive electronic account certification and reporting information in real-time or near real-time;

determine whether match indications of the stored interests are present as a function of receiving the electronic account certification and reporting information; and

if a match indication is present and the stored interest is present, spawn a credit account or electronically optimize a credit account in real-time or near real-time.

29. A system of claim 27, wherein the processor is further operable to execute the computer-executed instructions to:

identify a customer;

receive and a credit report and identify debt balances accounts and dates reported, wherein the credit report is associated with the identified customer;

collect and consolidate financial account data with the credit report data, wherein the consolidated financial account data reported as of the same dates of the received credit report; and

direct the communications interface to communicate, via the network interface to an authorized recipient, at least a notice of availability of the enhanced credit to an authorized recipient if the at least a portion of the consolidated financial account data is not reported on the credit report.